On July 31, 1909 (Meiji 42) a fire broke out at a knit-wear factory in the northern part of Osaka that would eventually engulf 122 ha. of the city and rage for no less than 24 hours. One of the most scary moments of the day happened around 5:00 PM when thousands of refugees found themselves in front of the Osaka Court of Appeal, trapped between the Dojima River and the rapidly approaching flames. The photographer caught this dramatic moment in this image. The dark smoke of the fire can be seen over the court building, barely visible on the left, while a crowd with all their belongings is in front. All the buildings in this image would soon be reduced to ashes.

Dojima and Sonesaki on both sides of Osaka’s Shijimi River (蜆川) were devastated by the Great Kita Fire of July 31, 1909 (Meiji 42). The river, which played an important part in Osaka culture was filled in with the rubble and forever vanished from Osaka’s town scape. For more information about this devastating fire, read Osaka 1909 • Great Kita Fire.

At 4:20 in the morning on July 31, 1909 (Meiji 42) a fire broke out at a knit-wear factory in Osaka’s Kita-ku, the northern part of the city. In late Meiji (1868-1912), there were only two fire engines—powered by steam—for the whole city, and most of the buildings in Osaka were made of wood. This proved disastrous. As a strong north-eastern wind drove the fire from one bamboo gutter to the next, it soon went wild. Within hours, a huge area south of Osaka station was engulfed in flames.